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May 19, 2013

I for Idiosyncrasies

There are many different "types" of homeschoolers these days. We are not the stereotype that we used to be, way back in the day, yet every homeschool family has their idiosyncrasies, those little peculiarities that we would most likely not have if we followed the mainstream method of educating our children. My family most definitely does some things a little differently...

Like the time my husband showed me a blister on his hand, and instead of giving him sympathy, I exclaimed, "Oh! Go show the kids! We were talking about blisters the other day and they should see this!"
Or the period of time when my three year old was so obsessed with Sven Forkbeard (who we learned about in history) that she wanted to be him for Halloween.
There is the fact that when my kids play with their food, they are usually building some famous landmark (strawberries and yogurt make an excellent Stonehenge).
And the sad truth that I taught my kids all of those vaguely questionable songs that children love myself because otherwise they wouldn't have had the experience.
Or that the sound of a horse neighing in the other room means I can be confident that the kids are working on their math facts.
That I am often creative in my motivation methods, telling them, "I am going to show your papers to your kids and grandkids some day. What will they think about this work?"

And, of course, there are the conversations that I have with my kids that wouldn't take place if we weren't homeschoolers:
I said, "Tell me what you know about the digestive system..." And Abbie offered, "Scientists call fingers 'digits'." I said, "No! Yes. Wait. They DO, you are right, but that really has nothing to do with the digestive system." Nate argued, "Yes, it does! You use your fingers to put the food into your mouth, so they ARE the beginning of the digestive system."
I put on some Pachebel for the kids to listen to during school, and Nate objected, "Benjamin Franklin never had to listen to this music!"
It was also Nate who, when he couldn't remember the name of scientist Anton van Leeuwenhoek finally suggested, "I can't remember his name... let's change it!"

It was because we homeschool that Daniel could draw a picture of a cell when he was in first grade. Kaytie could sing for God to help her through "this time of struggle and tragedy" otherwise known as filling out a Geography worksheet. Nate could learn that Super Secret Agents have to do whatever their mommy tells them to, even schoolwork. And I could enjoy Abbie's narration: There was a guy, who made a thingee, and he did something with it!

And finally, my favorite idiosyncrasy of being a homeschool mom is that every year, I have always gotten along so well with all my kids' teachers!

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